Fulfilling A Desire
by dead.but.true
Summary: Spin-off of the story "When Past becomes Present: The Dark Lord's Return" by Devlin Dracul. Angelica won the duel against Adelram, and thus he has to obey her desire. The pair goes on a journey across the Three Plains, striving to become the new Golden and Silver Paladin. Follow them on their strive for adventure!
1. The Duel

**A/N: Welcome to this story! It is a very special one, especially to me, because this story is the alternate story line to the story "When Past becomes Present: The Dark Lord's Return" by my friend Devlin Dracul. The story really is amazing, and I am honored to participate in his work!**

 **The story of course is about the main character Adelram and his best friend Angelica; I will write in both point of views, most likely changing from chapter to chapter.**

 **Thus said, read his story and enjoy both his and my spin-off!**

I looked at the table. In front of me was the items I needed for my journey and my stay in the Southern Plains. Once again I checked for things I may have forgotten, but it seemed everything was there. Of course there was no available map material on the southern plain, so I had packed graph paper, as well as a little book which would be my journal and notebook. Although we had been taught a few survival skills and spells – like purifying water or extracting nutrients and minerals from various sources – I had decided to bring a week worth of different foods with me, mostly dried meat along with fruits and vegetables. Still, I also intended to bring an encyclopedia on edible plants with me, since those herbs and mushrooms often looked very similar to their poisonous counterparts.

There were no tools on the desk; I was sure my – personally handcrafted and modified – knife would serve me, be it hunting, cooking or simple construction working. I could also rely on my nearly unmatched blacksmith skills, if the need for other tools should ever occur. This was also why I just packed a sleeping bag and not a tent, I could easily build a hut or cabin, depending on the length of my reside in one area.

I was about to leave, when I heard a knock at my door. "Ram, do I have your permission to enter?"

There was only one person that called me by that name: Angelica. "Of course you have the permission, Angelica.", I said. Despite us being friends since childhood, she still would always knock. I opened the door for her and greeted. "Hello, Angelica."

I immediately walked to the table and used a Transportation spell on my equipment, a useful spell that stores items in a different dimension. This way I wouldn't have to carry a large backpack. Angelica must have seen it, since she looked slightly confused and asked: "Are you planning to go on a journey, Ram?"

"Indeed, I am. Why do you ask?"

Contemplating what to say next, she said. "No reason. It's just so rare that you do...if I may be so bold, can I accompany you?"

"No, you can't.", I said, maybe a bit too harsh.

"Oh." She paused. "Could you at least tell me your destination?"

There should be no problem in telling her, right? "I'm heading for the southern plains.", I said. After a short moment of silence, I realized that I maybe shouldn't have told her.

"You're going where?!", she yelled.

Honestly, I had never heard such a loud yell. It was nearly as loud as the Echolocation spell we had been taught.

"I'm going to the southern plains.", I confirmed.

"Why?! No one had been there since the Five Legends defeated the Dark Lord, neither the elves of the eastern plains, nor the dwarfs of the western plains or we humans of the northern plains! You could go anywhere, seeing the beauty of the East, enjoying the peace of the North, admiring the marvels of the West, but you want to see the godforsaken soil of the south?! Why, Ram, why?!"

"Because I want to."

‑

She did not seem to be satisfied with this answer. In fact, she was just looking at me with a half-surprised, half-enraged face. She had some valid points, and under different circumstances I may have done just that, but just now she just intensified my curiosity. I would be the first human, more likely the first person, to set foot into this land since the Legendary Five did a century ago! She couldn't stop me now, I finally had a reason to use what I had been taught.

I shoved her out of my way and left the house I was born in, lived in for years. I was about to leave everything behind, even Angelica. But none of that was able to stop me.

"Ram!", she yelled. I just walked straight forward.

"RAM!" I kept ignoring her.

"ADELRAM UMBRA!" I came to an abrupt halt. She hadn't called me by this for years.

"You know I'm not letting you go there.", she added.

"And how do you plan to stop me?", I said with a slightly cocky grin. She didn't even opened her mouth to answer, instead she had rushed to me in the blink of an eye, aiming a kick to my temple. I grabbed her ankle, the sheer force of the attack causing my hand to tremble. Everyone else would have been knocked unconscious, with their hand shattered, but it didn't work on me. As soon as I loosened the grip on her leg, she jumped back, taking a praying stand, a pose also used in a duel.

"With a duel. You always uphold the moral codes, so you'll certainly listen to my 'desire'."

‑

Desire. The term that described the prize that the victor of the duel would claim. It could be anything, be it their opponent's riches, kin or life, the loser had to fulfill. A request not even God can nullify, as some people say.

"We've dueled before, Angelica, countless times. You never won, albeit you were close sometimes. You will lose."

"Not this time! It has always been mandated by the school, but finally, for the first time, I have a reason to win, and I will no lose this fight! You may be the Strongest Man in all three plains, but don't you dare forget that I am called the Strongest Woman! I might be the only person to defeat you.", she said with such intensity, she had to take a few breaths to calm herself down.

Somehow, hearing her declaration, I was filled with pride. I looked her in the eyes, noticing her fair skin, beautiful hair, the perfect placement of her cheekbones and the meek chin. And finally, those blue eyes, filled with wit, passion, determination and intelligence, those eyes you can lose yourself in. All that made up the most beautiful woman in the world; I could have easily fallen for her, if my curiosity for the Dark Lord wouldn't be that strong. I was about to leave a life full of happiness at the side of this woman behind.

"Adelram, listen closely, for this is my desire: should I emerge victorious, you will abandon your quest, and I wish for you to stay b-by my side...forever.", she said while blushing. So Angelica did love me...how unfortunate, at least for now.

"Very well, this is my desire: should I emerge victorious, I will continue my quest and proceed in my journey. However, you have my permission to chase me after you regain consciousness." Angelica looked a little confused. "I am sure I will grow in my abilities along my way, and who would be more fit to test them on than you?" She blushed a little at this remark.

"Very well, I accept your desire.", she said.

"So do I.", I confirmed. Desires could be rejected before a duel, although it rarely happens.

‑

I began with the construction of the barrier. This barrier was created before a duel started, not only to ensure the safety of the spectators, but also so the duel could even take place. You can't take physical damage in a Desire Duel since it's forbidden to shed the opponent's blood, instead the damage is changed into psychological shots. Fatal blows would cause such tremendous shocks, that most opponents would be rendered unconscious immediately. We took our battle stances, ready to begin the duel with the traditional phrase, the phrase that allegedly the Hero said to the Dark Lord at the start of their duel.

"Have at you!"

After we yelled that, Angelica rushed to me. The first round would be a martial arts fight, hand-to-hand combat in which we both exceeded. Using kicks, fists, our elbows and everything else we've been taught, we fought each other. Angelica's speed was overwhelming, landing countless blows on me; however, it would be my strength that would win me the first round. With a well-placed palm strike in her chest, I sent Angelica flying into the barrier with an audible gasp. Score one for me.

Angelica wasn't about to give up. She stood up and summoned a weapon, a weapon from an ancient eastern culture, called katana. Found at an excavation site along with throwing weapons called kunai and shuriken, the weapons had been reconstructed and named after an ancient scripture found in the surrounding area. We had seen the weapons during a trip, and Angelica had immediately taken a liking to the light and sharp blade, crafting herself a true masterpiece, unmatched to any other. I preferred a double-edged broadsword; although it normally lacked in speed, I was able to use it at an incredible velocity due to my power. Combined with its force, it was a weapon that mowed down everything. Naturally, it was crafted by me.

Our swords clashed against each other, sparks flying around. Angelica released a barrage of quick slashes at me, which I was able to parry, albeit barely. However, she soon found her advantage: her sword wasn't labeled as one of the sharpest edges in the three plains for nothing. With a swift strike she cut through my blade and slashed my abdomen. Score for her.

I wouldn't go down that easily. I summoned a bow and a quiver, enchanted to hold an infinite amount of arrows, and so did she. We began to unleash a hail of arrows on the other, moving at blinding speed. The villagers watching the duel probably couldn't even see our arms clearly. Even though I'm stronger than her, she still exceeds me in speed, and I couldn't shoot down every single one of her arrows. With a quick movement she destroyed my bow, quiver and finally hit my arm. I hissed. The score was now two to one for her.

It was time for our next contest, a fight filled to the brim with magic. I summoned a wall of fire that shot towards her, which she immediately countered with a wall of stone. We unleashed spell after spell, countering each other. We could hear the villagers gasp in awe; they probably saw the most intense and beautiful magic fight in their lives. Seeing no end to this fight, I cut the palm of my right hand to draw blood, surprising everyone. Though the opponent is forbidden to draw blood from the enemy, they can still inflict self harm that could draw blood within the barrier. It's one of the few loopholes of the spell. Without hesitation I made a whip out of my own blood. Blood Manipulation is advanced sorcery, one of the most difficult there is, and rarely used. People don't like the idea of using their own blood, however it always comes in handy if you're in need of a weapon.

I cracked the whip at her, grabbing her by the throat and throwing her into the barrier. The score was now two to two, the next fight would settle everything. With whatever little magic and strength I had left, I channeled it all in my fist. It began to glow, a pale white like moonlight. Angelica had done the same, her hand coated in a light, equaling the golden rays of the sun. With a battle cry, we charged at each other.

The very moment our fists collided, a bright light erupted. A shock-wave pulsed through the air, the sheer force of our magic shaking the barrier to a point close to annihilation. Unbeknownst to this the citizen continued cheering.  
I knew I must not get distracted by these people and focused my entire mind on my right fist. It was a stalemate, in which the tiniest shift of concentration could determine the winner.

The intensity of magic power started to heat up the surrounding air; I was already exhausted from the previous fight and had put most of my remaining power in this single punch to end it all, just like a true hero - not that I wanted to be one - but the heat drained me of my energy.

I gave my best. I clenched my teeth and let out a feral growl, but felt how Angelica pushed my fist slowly back, inch by inch.

I could see the exhaustion on her face, she was as burned out as me, but she managed to push me back. Maybe it was her iron will and the fierce look in her eyes that determined the winner, but as her fist was just one inch away from my face, she let out an archaic battle-cry; and with the little strength she had left she finally hit my in the face, sending me flying. As I crashed into the barrier and slowly lost consciousness, I could see her pant. She fell to her knees, unable to stand anymore, but the triumphant look in her eyes was as impressing as amusing. I smiled as everything went black.

-

I woke up, my head lying on a rather soft pillow. Looking up, I saw Angelica's face; apparently it was her lap.

"You woke up?", she asked.

"Yeah.", I mused. As I tried to move, I felt how every muscle in my body was stiff.

"You should probably stay down.", she said with a small smile, showing her concern.

"I'm alright.", I said, shrugging it off.

"More importantly, I won. You have to fulfill my desire.", she smirked. Sighing I raised my hand to an oath.

"I won't go anywhere near the Southern Plains, nor will I think of doing something stupid like that. Also, I will stay at your side for the rest of my life.", I pledged. "It's almost like I'm marrying you.", I added.

"W-what, i-it's not!", she stuttered while blushing brightly.

"Oh? What is that blush supposed to tell me? Are you in love with me?", I teased.

"N-no!", she yelled embarrassed.

"Ain't that great. That means I can go out with other women? You only said I have to stay by your side, not as your lover.", I smiled evilly.

"You can't do that!", she yelled.

"Huh? Why's that?", I asked.

"Because...because...I-I kinda...you know...", she mumbled. Knowing teasing her more wouldn't be any more fun, I stopped.

"So what am I gonna do now? Since I can't follow my plans.", I asked.

"First, let's get some sleep. And after that, I have a great idea.", she said with a sudden, confident smile...which somehow gave me the chills.

When I woke up, I still felt exhausted. My muscles weren't stiff and I could move without any problems, but still there was a dull pain lingering everything.

"Are you finally awake?", asked a sweet voice. I looked up and saw Angelica sitting next to the bed I spent the night in.

"Yeah...", I mused. The light shining through the windows caused a throbbing headache.

"Here.", said Angelica and handed me a glass of water. "Does it still hurt, Ram?", she asked.

"You certainly did a number on me. How long did I sleep?", I said.

"Long enough, if you ask me. It's already noon, you should probably get up.", smiled Angelica. That was when I remembered that she mentioned she had some plans for today.

"Yeah, yeah. What do you plan to do now?", I asked while I stood up. I tied my boots and looked at her.

"Right. Ram, you have to fulfill my desire and stay by my side. I am the strongest woman, and you are the strongest man. We will be the golden and the silver paladin. But much like you, I have no interest in becoming one – yet. I want to get around a little, and you, Ram, will accompany me.", she said with the sweetest smile possible.

I sighed. That didn't sound too bad. "So, where do you want to go first?", I asked.

"Well, I am not sure yet. I want to strive the western and eastern plains, maybe the northern, gathering knowledge and seeing new things. It also will be a good preparation for our times as a paladin. I think I want to start with the Elves, though. We will head to the east, see a few sites, meet some people. Then we will return to the north, going up into the mountains; coming down, we will travel westwards, finally visiting the dwarfs. Depending on our situation, I think we will challenge the silver and the golden paladin at that point.", explained Angelica. I nodded.

‑

We had prepared to leave the village. Angelica wanted to go to the next city first, claiming she had some shopping and preparations to do. I had prepared everything yesterday, but maybe I could buy a few things I might need.

"What do you want to buy?", I asked Angelica.

"I need food, clothes and miscellaneous equipment. Or did you pack a tent?", she said. I denied.

"But clothes?", I asked with a half-bored, half-skeptical face. Women buying clothes could be a real pain in the ass.

"I-it's not like I want to buy anything fancy! J-just a cloak and stuff...", she said with a blush.

"You don't wear fancy clothes? What a shame, you would look beautiful in them.", I said with a teasing smirk.

"R-really? That's nice of you, Ram! M-maybe I will buy a nice dress.", she mumbled.

"Huh? I thought you wanted to buy just a cloak?", I said to tease her even more.

"I-I just said that to myself!", she said hastily. "Ram, you can be so mean sometimes.", she said with pout. I just chuckled.

‑

While Angelica was in a store trying on different clothes, I decided to take a look around. I was sure I had forgotten nothing, but maybe I'll find something interesting. The stores located in this street apparently just sold clothes and things like flowers; it seems to be directed to female customers.

"I could buy her a little gift.", I said to myself. After all, we had a tough fight and an argument. It would also be just a nice little gesture, so it would be a good idea. But what should I buy her? Flowers were useless, we would leave town in a few hours; she wasn't that fond of jewelry, and it was too expensive. Food? Cake or chocolate always saves the day. Considering it was Angelica, maybe something useful like a weapon would be more appropriate.

‑

In the end, I decided to buy her a little box of chocolates. You can't do anything wrong with chocolates, can you? I finally met her in front of a store, with a few bags in her hands.

"Look, Ram1 I found this nice dagger! Also this one store had a discount on traveling cloaks, and the other had this dress!", she said as I approached. I smiled. She seemed to have a lot of fun.

"Here." I gave her the chocolates. "I'm sorry for what I did. You should expect better things from the next golden paladin, right?", I said with a sheepish smile. She looked me in the eyes, a small blush creeping on her face.

"T-thank you...", she muttered and blushed even more as she tried the chocolate. "It's delicious."

I smiled a content grin. She seemed to be alright now. "Well then, let's start our journey!", I said.

 **A/N: Man, that was one hell of a chapter! You probably noticed it, the beginning is very close to the original. I wanted to stick as close to the normal story as possible, but not copy it. I hope it turned out well. Also, I added a lot more fluff in the end. Devlin Dracul doesn't write that much, but I don't think this story needs more fluff. I just thought it would add up to a good ending. I will not drop the fluff completely, but the focus will of course be adventuring and fighting! I hope you enjoy the next chapters.**


	2. The journey begins

**A/N: Second chapter is out now! This time beta was done by Devlin Dracul and Gmann (both amazing authors; check em), and it is now way more awesome than when I initially wrote it. This chapter is more action and less fluff, but you can still expect some funny moments. Enjoy!**

Angelica had finished her shopping tour and stored away most of her purchases in an alternate dimension, using the Transportation Spell. She slung the traveling cloak around her shoulders; now looking the same as I, we headed towards the gate.

"Do you want to ride a horse," she asked me.

"I don't know, you can decide where we go, but I think horses are too expensive," I said. Angelica nodded with a sigh, apparently not wanting to travel a large distance by feet. "This way we will see more of those marvels we mentioned and can have a nice chat," I say, trying to cheer her up.

"I guess you're right," she exclaims through a genuine smiled. "Let's see...we have to follow this road until we arrive at a city called Lyndon, and from there we will head to the east through the great forest until we arrive at the Elven Kingdom."

"Sounds great. How far away is Lyndon," I asked.

"We should get there within a day."

‑

We left the city and walked along the road. It was a broad road made up of flat stones, smooth from all the carts and carriages that frequently drove on it; although our village was fairly small, it was a knot on the merchant route between the east and north. We occasionally saw one, carrying grain from the north or bringing back goods like alcohol and magic items with them, although the latter were rare. A lot of cheap magic products are sold, but those are produced within the northern plains. The more powerful and useful items usually were enchanted by the elves; since they were so expensive, many manufacturers preferred sending them by ship.

The land around the road itself was beautiful. It mirrored the riches of the northern plains, vast fields of wheat, apple trees and other crops were next to the road, showing off the prosperity and fertility of the land. In fact, the north produced a lot of food for the other plains as well. The farmers were mainly selling grain to the elves, or livestock and meat to the dwarfs.

"I like it," I thought out loud, "The area, you know."

"My my, so young and already planning to settle down," smirked Angelica. "Never thought you wanted to be a farmer."

"It's just...everyone expects us to be the next Paladins and it's certainly an honor and a great job, but as long as no one challenges you, you can't settle down. I don't know if I still want to travel around in my sixties," I laughed a little sheepishly.

"You don't seem to be the type of guy that is concerned about his future. Most people would say you work towards your goal, ignoring everything else," contemplated Angelica.

"And what would you say," I asked a little curious.

"Hmm...I would probably say that looks can deceive," replied Angelica with a grin.

"I guess you really know me the best," I sighed. Angelica giggled. "And what about you? Don't you worry about your future?"

"Hmm…" contemplated Angelica, putting her index finger on her lips; it were those moments that always reminded me of her beauty. "I guess you'll figure it out for me," she said brightly.

"I bet," I say with a chuckled.

‑

We had been walking for maybe four hours when I decided to have a short rest; not that we were exhausted, but it would still feel nice. I kept a lookout for a good spot until I heard running water. Focusing my hearing, I located a small creek near us. "Let's have a rest," I said. Angelica nodded.

We sat down in the shade of a tree. It was a beautiful view: the creek was glistening in the water, a few trees in the back appeared to be emeralds in the golden mass of wheat. I used the Transportation Spell to get a bottle of water and some bread, Angelica picked two apples from a nearby tree.

"I wish it could look like this forever," she said. I hummed in agreement.

"That's something worth becoming a Paladin for. Protecting the land and the people...I can't imagine what would have happened without them sometimes," I said.

"Yeah...it comes with a great risk, but every second will be worth it. Together we will transverse the plains..." says Angelica a little dreamily.

"You better not lose your duel with the Silver Paladin then," I smirked.

"As if! I won't leave you...erh, I mean..." stuttered Angelica, blushing mid-way. I chuckled a little.

"Come on, we don't want to arrive at midnight, do we," I ask, saving her from further embarrassment.

‑

We had been walking another two hours. We had left the fields and were in a forest now. The sun had started to set and basked the sky in a copper tone. "I think one more hour before we arrive in Lyndon," said Angelica.

"Except ya won't," said a voice. "That is, if ya want to keep all ya fancy stuff."

"Who is there," I ask calmly.

"Just ya usual street robber," snickered a man who emerged from the trees. He was tall, dressed in leathery clothes, and had a black beard. A lot of other men came out of the forest on all sides, surrounding us.

"Oh my God, bandits! What do we do now," I said in a mocking, sarcastic tone.

"Ya could give us all of ya money or die. Your choice," said the man.

"That's a problem. I don't want to die, but I don't want to give them my money," said Angelica in fake pondering, acting as if this was some kind of trick math question.

"So ya going to choose dying huh? Fine with me," said the bandit, shrugging his shoulder. All of his men drew various weapons.

"I think we can settle this in a different way. How about a duel," I offered. The bandit looked a little dumbfounded, then he started to laugh.

"A duel he said! Funny, ya bourgeois Ladies and Lords think everything can be solved with a fancy little duel," he laughed out, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "I'll tell ya something kiddo, life ain't that easy."

"So you decline...then I can't guarantee for your safety anymore," I stated, taking a fighting stance.

"Safety? That's it! Kill them," snarled the bandit. His men jumped at us.

I knew Angelica would do perfectly well on her own, so I focused on my fight. I pointed my hand at the nearest bandit. "Divine Law," I chanted, and shackles of light shot from the ground, restraining his movements. I leaped at him. "Drilling Strike!" Surrounding my fist in winds, I hit him in the stomach; the winds tearing his clothes apart and driving my fist straight through him. He coughed up blood before dropping on the ground, dying. I pointed my fist at another bandit. "Blood Projectile!" The bandit's blood still attached to my fist was hardened and shot at the other bandit, piercing his chest; he collapsed.

I looked around. Three more bandits to go. I rushed towards them. "Stomp!", I chanted and stomped on the ground, causing a large section of earth in front of me to be forcefully ejected thirty feet into the air, sending the highway men along with it. "Lithomancy: Throwing Knives!" Another spell of mine let the bigger pebbles of the debris glow, and in midair, metal knives formed out of them. Lithomancy, the magic of forming, controlling and changing stone was powerful; you can create a metal out of rock that is better than most forged weapons. With a swipe of my hand the knives flew towards the bandits, piercing their bodies before they fell down. I turned around and saw Angelica wielding her katana. With a few quick and precise slashes, she mowed down the bandits with deadly efficiency, in the most beautiful way I've ever seen. Evading the blood, the silvery slashes cut through limbs and torsos, and in the midst of the carnage was Angelica, her golden hair flying freely.

After a few seconds the fight was already over. All the bandits were either severely injured or dead. The leader looked at us with a look of pure terror. "I guess you bit off more than you could chew," I say with a smirk. He just screamed and threw something at Angelica. She quickly created a shield, and immediately after that a small explosion shook the area. A crater was where Angelica was standing; without her shield, she would've been blown to pieces. The mere though fills me with rage. "Divine Law," I yell, binding the bandit to the ground. I walked towards him with a menacing aura. "You can try to rob us, you can try to fight us, but if you try to hurt her, I won't forgive you! Blood Boil!" A look of unbridled horror appeared on his face and slowly twisted into of agony, as his internal temperature increased to fatal levels. The bandit's ear shattering screams slowly turned into a gurgling noise once his lungs had all but melted into bubbling soup. Then the progression reached its climax when his body, which was completely obscured in red life fluid, exploded in a shower of guts and gore.

"You went overboard," said Angelica without any judgment in her voice.

"Looks like it," I said.

"But...t-thanks for caring so much..." she muttered while blushing. I also blush a little.

"Well, y-you're...you know..." I stuttered. Damn it, why did I suddenly lose my cool?! I blushed even more. "Let's go," I yell a bit loud, trying to change the topic. Angelica nodded, and with red faces we continued our walk towards Lyndon.

‑

The moon had replaced the sun when we arrived in Lyndon. Looking around, we saw it was rather small. The only inn stood in the middle of the village; lights were inviting us, shining through the window glass. We entered and saw it was clean and cozy. A few people sat at the tables, drinking beer and chatting. Smoke was in the air, some men were smoking pipes or cigars.

"We'd like to have dinner and two rooms," I said to the man behind the counter. It was an elderly man with an impressive mustache. He was bald and a little obese, wearing a stained apron.

"Well, I certainly can serve you a delicious hotpot and my self-brewed beer, but we only have one room left," he smiled.

"Does it have two beds," asked Angelica hopefully.

"No, one, but I bet you won't a problem with that, eh?" He winked with knowing smugness. "You two are the cutest couple in here since years."

"And what about my daughter, huh?" A man shouted in the back.

"Pshaw, you farmers know nothing about real beauty! When I was still in the city..." ranted the bartender, and everybody started to laugh. It was a happy village.

"Yeah, we'll take this room..." I muttered, seeing Angelica flush a bit.

"Great! Just sit wherever you like, I'll get your food right now," spoke the innkeeper with a smile and went through a door leading to a kitchen. We sat down at a table, and after a minute or so he put down two plates and two mugs in front of us. "Enjoy your meal!"

I looked down on the food. The hotpot sure seemed nice, having potatoes and beans in it. I saw diced bacon, and it looked like the basis of the hotpot was tomatoes. Then I sniffed at the mug and took a long sip. It was dark beer, a little malty and sweet, with not too much alcohol. Angelica ate a spoon of the hotpot. "It's good," she said with a cute smile.

I raised my mug. "To our journey," I said.

"To our journey," she said and we clunked our mugs together.

‑

After we had eaten, we went upstairs to our room. It wasn't particularly large, having only a – rather big – bed, a table, two chairs and toiletry equipment. "I'll take the floor," I offered, taking out my sleeping bag from the storage dimension.

"Don't be silly, it's large enough for the two of us," said Angelica.

"But..." I began, hesitation on max level.

"No buts! We've done this before," she cut me off.

"Yeah, but we were kids!"

"And now," she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You are a woman..." I stuttered with a small blush; her face flushed, but determination showed in her eyes.

"We will have to do this a lot in the future, so get over it!" as soon as the words left her mouth, she devolved from confident to a stuttering mess. "Sleeping t-together...I mean next to e-each other..." She blushed even more and I chuckled and laid down.

"You're right. Good night." She sighed in exasperation.

"Yeah. Good night."


	3. Blades for hire

**A/N: And another chapter of this story! I have some pretty awesome ideas for the next chapters and I bet you'll like them. Now, in chapter 1 I said I wanted to focus on adventure and not on fluff, but then I wrote a nice fluffy ending...well, my new goal is adventure consisting of a lot of fluff and (gory) fights. I hope you like the idea. Again, beta was done by Gmann and Devlin Dracul. Enjoy!**

When I woke up, I heard a light snore. I looked beside me and was greeted with the quite beautiful sight of Ram's sleeping face. He looked peaceful and content, and I caught myself tracing down his perfect jawline. He might say otherwise, but he really is handsome, his physique was appealing and his uncommon skin color perfectly fit his hair. I blushed a little. Why am I thinking this? I've known him for years, why am I bringing this up now?!

With a yawn he slowly opened his eyes. He shuffled and turned around, putting his arm around me. "So you're still moving when waking up? You haven't changed a bit," I chuckled.

"Yeah..." he said drowsily, but suddenly his eyes widened. "A-Angelica!" He stood up, struggled with the blanket and fell on the ground. "W-Why are you – I mean, what are you saying," he blurted out with a flushed face.

"You snore, did you know," I ask teasingly him. Payback time for yesterday!

"I sno– no I don't," he stuttered. I giggle at his indignation. "What time is it," he asked.

"I would say around dawn? The sun has risen, though."

"Breakfast and then leaving," he asked.

"I think," I say and stand up. We both dressed and were ready to go down.

"Angelica?"

"Yes?"

"Do I...really snore," he ask in real puzzlement. I just giggled.

‑

"Jeez, you know you can simply wake me up if it annoys you," says Ram, cutting up his egg. He had this strange habit off eating everything except the yolk, only to devour it later in one piece.

"It didn't," I reassured him. Pointing at his dish, "Why do you always do it like that," I asked.

"It runs in the family," he said and shoved a fork full of bacon and egg in his mouth. He chewed it and drank a sip of coffee. "Although I'm the only one drinking coffee black," he exclaims with a grin.

"I don't know how you can enjoy this...beverage in the first place. It's way too bitter," I mused and raised my glass of juice.

"It runs in the family," he says, grin still plastered on his face. "So, where are we heading next? You said you wanted to go to the east to the Elven kingdom, but have you planned a route yet?"

"Not quite, but I sorted out a few," I respond, summoning a map to the capital. "You see, we have to go through the big forest, Silvamagna. Once we exit it, we can head straight for the capital. We will pass these three villages." I pointed at three names along a road. "It's a two days walk from the outskirts of Silvamagna, so I think we'll sleep in the first and the third village. As soon as we're in the capitol, we'll find ourselves a nice inn, visit a few sites and maybe court the royalty," I explained.

"Court the royalty," repeated Ram with an ironic tone. "And why should they let us into their castle in the first place? Just the possibility of being the next Paladins won't be enough."

"It should be. You just don't want to go there," I said sternly.

"You know I dislike nobles," he admitted. "Nevertheless, I have to obey all your commands,' he added with a smug grin.

"You just have to follow me," I said with a faint blush. "Although I surely wish you'd have to..." I whispered.

"What did you say? I couldn't hear you," he said with a teasing grin.

"The important question is, how we will get to the forest. Once we entered it, it will be at least a two day trip, filled with dangers," I said, avoiding an answer.

"I like danger. I can finally test my skills," said Ram.

"That's one way to put it. I suggest this road, we'd stay overnight in a village called Cernunnos. It's close to Silvamagna, it's perfect," I say. Ram nodded.

‑

Just as we had finished our breakfast and wanted to stand up, a man came to our table. "I heard you want to go to the Elven kingdom?" We looked at him. Leather pants, blue shirt made of fine linen – a merchant, and a rather rich one.

"Maybe we do," said Ram evasive. A little secrecy never hurt anyone.

"You see, my name is Limbo. I am a traveling merchant and have a shipment that I want to send to the kingdom. The caravan consists of three carts, and I didn't find any guards. I planned on hiring at least six, so I would pay you each the salary of three. Are you interested," asked the merchant. I looked at Ram.

"We don't need any money. We can produce gold," he whispers to me.

"But that is illegal," I hissed. "Also, it could be a valuable experience," I whisper back.

"When do you leave," asked Ram.

"Around noon," says Limbo. Ram looks at me, and I nod.

"We're coming with you," I say.

‑

After we had paid our bills, we went out to the central plaza of the village. Limbo said his caravan – or rather carts, it were just three – were standing there, and we looked at them. He seemed to deal in crops, and the horses were sturdy and healthy. However, the man steering the carts were bulky, rough guys with some visible scars.

"Suspicious," whispered Ram after he made sure we couldn't be heard.

"What," I asked.

"Don't you think it's strange? Limbo clearly is rich. Maybe not filthy rich, but still he is loaded with gold, I bet. But he only has three carts with that little food on it? His men look like they haven't seen sunlight for years, and their daggers are placed in certain places. Also, he didn't find guards to hire, although the pay probably is high," explained Ram.

I narrowed my brows. "You think he's dealing with some shady business?"

"Most likely, but I don't know what," said Ram.

"I think he's smuggling something. Angel Dust, maybe," I guess. Angel Dust was a drug that recently gained popularity. The use – and abuse – of drugs wasn't common, and the effects of Angel Dust made it very popular. It was cheap to produce, highly addictive and thus could be sold for a good profit. "I'll cancel our contract," I said.

"No! Just act normally," said Ram. "We can still expose his scheme later, but if we say something, he will maybe try to kill us. We should solve this matter in the forest, where nobody will disturb us."

I nodded. Ram certainly put some thought in this.

‑

Two hours later Limbo approached the carts. "We're all set to go. Why don't you sit with me," he asked and climbed on the cart in the middle."

"Once we're in the woods one of us will be with the first and the other with last cart," I said. "Safety reasons." Limbo nodded in agreement.

The caravan started to move, and after half an hour Limbo began to talk. "It's really quiet," he said, trying to start a conversation. Ram nodded. "So, what are you guys up to? You look like adventurers," smiled Limbo.

"Guess we are," I said and looked at the sheath of my blade. We sat in the back of the cart, and I had leaned a sword against my shoulder – not my katana, it was too valuable to be even seen by those cockroaches – and Ram had his hands on the hilts of two daggers that lied sheathed on his lap.

"You're not very talkative," said Limbo, with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"No," said Ram simply.

Limbo nodded. "So...what adventures have you been through yet?"

"Fighting," I said.

"Monsters and the kin?", asked Limbo exited.

"Bandits, vagabonds, criminals, human cockroaches," said Ram with a little grin. " It was a real mess last time. Haven't seen that much blood in years," he added with a wider grin. Limbo gulped. This behavior made him just more suspicious.

"Aye boss, heard that yesterday good ol' Leon has been skewered. This mornin' some traveling guy said that he walked along the road and found 'em. Just a heap of corpses an' guts," said the man steering our cart.

"O-oh, really," said Limbo, sweating.

"Ah, yes, yesterday someone tried to rob us. Maybe it was this Leon," I said.

"A-and what did you do," asked Limbo

"We talked him out of it," I said with sarcasm dripping in my voice and Ram snickered.

"Yeah, her tongue is as sharp as a blade," he chuckled. Limbo paled.

"I guess I don't have to worry then," gulped Limbo and was only met with heavy silence.

‑

We arrived in Cernunnos in the afternoon, only a little faster than we would have been by foot.

"I've been to this town very often and have a friend I wanna meet up with," said Limbo. "My guys here will go with you to the inn." We nodded. Limbo jumped off the cart and we rode to the inn. After securing the carts, the five of us entered.

"We'd like some rooms," I said to the bartender. He was a young guy.

"Five, I guess," he asked friendly.

"Two are enough," snarled one of the men. "One for five and one for a single person." He grinned. If he thinks I would sleep in the same room with them, he's terribly wrong.

"One for three," corrected Ram and smirked at the guys. "We've been hired to secure your goods and will do so." The guys looked angered, but didn't want to cause a ruckus.

"One for one and one for three persons," said the man rather pissed.

‑

After two hours Limbo returned and we decided to have dinner. All six of us sat down at a big table, I sat between Limbo and Ram. Soon we got our dishes, loaded with meat, as well as big humps full of beer...strong beer. Ram and I patiently and carefully took small sips, and so did Limbo. The three thugs downed them down in one go and ordered...six new. They didn't seem to know the word modesty.

"That was delicious, thank you.", I said politely, as the bartender took the empty plates with him. He smiled.

"Thank you, Miss."

"Yeah, I bet she's a miss," roared one of the guys. "You don't have something going on with this weak boy, bet ya don't," he said and pointed at Ram. He was drunk, and looking for trouble. The barkeeper hurried away.

"I don't think I have to discuss such private matter with you," I said coldly.

"C'mon, we are real men! This little boy over there can't satisfy you!" The man then tried to grab my hand. A whiz, a silver blur, and seconds later a knife was embedded in the wall behind the thug.

"Oh excuse me, I thought there was a rat," smiled Ram dangerously.

"Lookin' for a fight," yelled the man and jumped up, his hand on the hilt of his dagger. I could see Ram readying a devastating spell, but Limbo yelled at the man.

"Calm down!" He looked fierce at the thug. The guy sat down and stared at Ram.

"One day..." he whispered. Ram shrugged his shoulders and stood up.

"Come on, we got some carts we have to look onto." This said, Ram and I left.

‑

As soon as we stood beside the carts, Ram looked at it. "Do you see it, too?" I nodded.

"Someone took something away from this cart. One crate is missing," I said and looked closer. "And it leaked a little..." Some white powder was on one of the crates. Ram took a little and put it in his mouth, immediately spitting it out.

"Bitter. Numb tongue. High quality Angel Dust," he said and confirmed our suspicions.

"What now?"

"Tomorrow in the forest we will...solve this matter. I'm pretty sure those guys want to get rid of us there, so we kill two birds with one stone," said Ram.

"I guess this is the best solution," I said. "Do we need a strategy?"

"We said we'd split, so I guess as soon as we're deep enough, we take care of the guys and then jump on the middle cart," suggested Ram and laid down in a heap of hay. "Good night."

‑

We had slept for maybe an hour, when a rustle startled us. We were awake immediately, but didn't move, waiting for what was about to happen. The rustle came closer, and I could smell alcohol. Suddenly, it became louder and the guy from before leaped at me. He pinned me down, holding my wrists tightly. I was startled and before I could fight back, he said with a drunken slur in his voice: "Now we can have all the fun we want, babe...let me show what it means to be a man."

"A man is someone who can kill someone without batting an eye," said Ram.

"Indeed," nodded the man, before he looked up startled. In his drunken haze, blinded by lust and anger, he had forgotten about Ram.

"Mute," hissed Ram and threw a spell on the thug. He grabbed his throat and wanted to shout, but no sound came out. "Can't talk? How unfortunate," said Ram and walked over to him. He summoned a needle of light, piercing it through the shoulder of the man. He let go of my wrists and grabbed his wounded shoulder. "Oh, I guess nobody can hear you scream," smiled Ram. "Now, you have two options: you stay away from her and leave us alone, or you will leave...this world. Painfully. What is your choice?"

The man had a painful expression, but just raised his unharmed arm and made a rude gesture. Ram sighed and shook his head. He walked over to the man and raised his hand. Fear filled the man's eyes as Ram rose his hand, but nothing happened – nothing the thug could see. Behind the criminal a heap of earth left the ground, making a hole. With a swift kick Ram sent him into the hole and dropped the earth on him, burying him alive. Seconds later, the ground looked the same as before.

"You went overboard," I said. Ram said nothing and walked over to me.

"Are you harmed," he asked me.

"No. I was just startled," I said, but couldn't shake off the uneasiness. Ram just looked at me; suddenly, he bowed down and embraced me in a tender hug. My eyes widened in surprise.

"Just let it out," he mumbled. I exhaled slowly, and felt the tears running down my cheek.

"I...I was just so surprised..." I hiccupped, letting the tears stream down. Ram said nothing and buried his face in the crook of my neck.

"You know I would never let something like that happen," he said in a soothing voice. And in a lower, menacing tone, he added: "And I didn't go overboard. I was far too nice too him..."

After that, we laid down. I still was embracing him, weeping a little, until we fell asleep. We woke up at dawn, ready to face our dangerous journey with Limbo.

 **A/N: Oops, I guess this time I went overboard...I mean, so much dark themes. Violence, drugs, rape...man, I'm evil. And a cliffhanger...but the rest is nice and a little fluffy – maybe. And to everyone who knows what the names of the locations mean, yeah, I ain't very creative. See ya!**


	4. Silvamagna

**A/N: I have pretty good ideas for the next chapters of Trust No One and Not Mages, Heroes!, but I have even better ideas for this story (and I love writing this one!), that's why I update this one. I hope you liked the last one, a little angsty, a possessive Adelram...I liked it, but I wrote it. Beta was done by Devlin Dracul, as usual. He's a great help. Enjoy!**

Angelica and I woke up maybe half an hour ago. We had washed our faces and I was shaving – using a spell – when Limbo stormed towards us. "Where is he?", he yelled.

"Who is he?", I asked.

"He!", yelled Limbo.

"Yeah, who?", I asked again.

"My driver!", said Limbo enraged.

"Which one? You have three.", asked Angelica.

"The one that drove the first cart...", said Limbo, calming down a little.

"Ah, the guy with the scars on his chin! I don't know, wasn't he sleeping in the inn?", I said innocently.

"He was, but he isn't here anymore.", said Limbo with a frown.

"Well we haven't seen him after last night.", said Angelica; it wasn't even a lie.

"If you see him, tell him to come to me. We're leaving around noon, with or without him."

‑

Obviously, he didn't show up. Limbo's mood was rather...stale. In other words, he was furious. Surely he thought that defeating us with only two men would be more difficult – that fool had no idea of our power.

As we said yesterday, I sat in the last cart and Angelica in the first, Limbo steered the one in the middle. Angelica and I sat with our backs to the wall, protecting ourselves from a literal stab in the back. In my opinion leaving around noon was stupid, we wouldn't make it far that way, but for them the journey would end more quickly – and they thought most likely vice versa. After a few hours, in the afternoon, we could see a green mass of trees and plants, with only a single entry, a dirt road leading through it.

"We're here: Silvamagna, the border between the Elven Kingdom and the Human Kingdom. It is incredibly dense and filled to the brim with monsters and other dangers lurking in the treacherous shadows. We better have our guard up now.", explained Limbo in a rather grotesque manner. Angelica and I nodded. We two would have to keep our guard up.

"When do you think they will attack?", I asked Angelica telepathically.

"I guess in about one or two miles. Be ready.", she said. "We'll take the initiative."

‑

We had rode for another twenty minutes, and the entry of the forest was out of sight. From now on they could attack us every moment. I decided to take action. "Did you hear the news? Apparently people are smuggling drugs into the Elven Kingdom and making a fortune with it.", I said rather loud.

"Really? Those guys are criminals! I bet they are disgusting.", said Angelica.

"Yeah, and they have a bounty on their heads. I have a description.", I said and pulled out a wanted poster. "Huh, that face looks familiar...my God, isn't this Limbo?", I said with mock surprise.

"Definitely not.", said Limbo, trying to be menacing.

"We already figured it out, Limbo. We knew the moment you hired us.", said Angelica calmly. Limbo looked shocked.

"Smuggling drugs is punished with a death sentence.", I said. The moment I finished my sentence, the drivers turned around, daggers drawn. "Sangromancy: Harden!", I chanted, using the difficult magic to control blood. Hardening the blood in my hand, I blocked the blade effortlessly. "Drilling Strike!" Engulfing my other hand in winds, I sent an uppercut to the drivers jaw, obliterating his face. He fell from the cart, dead. As I looked towards Angelica, I found her – unsurprisingly – unscathed and her driver engulfed in flames, thrashing around in pain. Angelica kicked him off the cart and we both jumped beside Limbo before he could escape.

"Divine Shackles!", casted Angelica. Similar to Divine Law, this spell summoned shackles of light, cuffing the target. All apprentices could use Hieromancy, the magic art of the law. Now that we had secured him, we wanted to interrogate him.

‑

"What you are doing is illegal!", yelled Limbo. We had stopped the carts and chained to a tree.

"Oh please, you are a wanted man. We found Angel Dust on your carts. We are legally required to capture you. We might as well ask you a few questions.", said Angelica. "Do you produce Angel Dust?"

"No comment."

"Do you ship it to the east and different dealers on the way?"

"No comment." Angelica and I both sighed. He was way too defiant; but his life depended on it. I pulled out a dagger. A few quick slashes, and his shirt fell down in pieces, leaving him bare. Then I lit my fingertip on fire and slowly pressed it against his nipple. After a few seconds of screaming, I took it away.

"Once again: do you produce Angel Dust?", I asked.

"No comment.", hissed Limbo through clenched teeth. I sighed and pressed my lit fingertip against his other nipple.

"Aaargh! Yes! Yes! I produce it!", he screamed in pain, a few tears running down his cheeks. His chest was glistening with sweat.

"Good. Whom do you sell it to in the Elven Kingdom?", inquired Angelica.

"I...", he began, but then fear filled his eyes. "No comment."

I sighed again. I forcefully pulled out his tongue and with a spell stopped his facial muscles from moving. Now he could neither swallow his tongue nor bite it off; both ways he would've killed himself or at least couldn't talk. "Should we search his mind?", asked Angelica me.

"No, we don't have the time for that.", I said. Searching one's mind was very effective, but took a lot of time. "I think torture is much more effective."

"...I don't like that.", said Angelica.

"Me neither.", I admitted. "But it's easier this way. What should we try next? More burn scars? Suffocation? Piercing his joints?"

"I don't know, something that hurts.", smiled Angelica. Limbo shook his head violently. I undid the spell.

"Fine, I'll talk!", he whimpered. Our threats seemed to have worked. "I produce it and ship it to a guy in the capital; he lives in a rundown house in the east; you can't miss it, the door's painted black. His name is Bic. He is an elf."

"Bic? Never heard of him.", I said. Limbo nodded.

"He isn't famous or anything. I just know he distributes the Angel Dust. He isn't very rich, so he is just another puppet, a pawn in this game."

"So someone else is behind all this? A noble maybe?", I asked. Limbo shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know.", he said.

"Anything else to say?", asked Angelica. He shook his head. Angelica and I walked away a few feet to have a private conversation.

"What now? Take him with us?", she asked.

"No. If we hand him over to someone, they might investigate and we'll be their target. We can't hand him in for a bounty, at least not in the Elven Kingdom. But we can't take him with us, he'll talk."

"We have to get rid of him.", she said and I nodded. "I don't like what he told us. Most likely at least one noble is involved.", said Angelica.

"You forget something way more important: the Three Ministers can't see everything, but they should have at least a clue on who is involved in this scheme. The plague of Angel Dust has been going on for years, yet no one did anything.", I said concerned.

"Do you think they are involved?", asked Angelica shocked.

"At least one.", I said and nodded. "Power corrupts, you know that the best." Angelica nodded sadly. When we were still at the academy the class rep – a beautiful noble – envied Angelica, for her looks and her abilities. She tried to bully her, although she soon stopped after she had an unpleasant visit.

"We have to be careful.", said Angelica.

"I think we are fine until we arrive in the capitol. Now, let's take care of Limbo." We walked back to Limbo. "Thank you for your cooperation.", I said with a smile.

"Can I go now?", he asked hopefully.

"Yes, you can go.", I confirmed and grabbed him by the shoulder. "Forever." A second later, he was engulfed in flames.

‑

"Horses are much better than walking."; smiled Angelica gleefully. We had burned the carts down to prevent people from looting, but took two of the horses.

"I have to admit that you are right.", I smiled.

"It was a good idea to do this job.", said Angelica. "Although we didn't get paid, we now have two horses and a valuable piece of information."

"And we gained some good experience. You were right about this, Angelica.", I said. Angelica giggled happily.

"If we can keep this speed up, we'll have to sleep one night outside and can exit the forest tomorrow.", she said.

"Sleeping outdoors? I have no problem with that, but we should probably not sleep next to the road.", I agreed. "We can go a few steps into the forest and set up a camp there."

‑

We rode next to each other in silence until dusk; maybe not dusk, but the setting sun was not high enough to cast rays through the thick ceiling of vegetation. "It's a bit like a dome...a great, dangerous dome...", said Angelica amazed. I nodded.

We jumped off the horses, grabbed them by the rein and went into the forest, until we found a clearing. Before we left the path, I had cast a spell. It was a useful spell, setting a magic marker. This way we could find our way out. "I've read that the forest itself is living and changes every second. Only the path remains untouched for some reason.", I said.

"You can feel it. The wind breezing through the trees is like its breath...and the magic flows inside trees, animals and soil...it is an eerie feeling, though.", said Angelica. "Let's hurry before it is dark."

We grabbed a tent from the storage dimension and quickly set it up. Soon we had put in blankets and sleeping bags. We sat down outside of the tent on a log. Using a tripod, Angelica made a fire under a kettle and started to cook a hotpot. Soon a delicious scent filled the clearing. "Better hurry before the scent and light attract unwanted visitors.", I said. Angelica smiled and gave me a bowl. I took a spoonful and ate it. It was a combination of spiciness and a hint of sweetness. "Delicious!", I exclaimed happily.

Angelica blushed a little. "I prepared it at home. It has a lot of bell pepper, meat and potatoes. It's goulash, but a very old recipe from the eastern regions."

"Really? It's perfect.", I smiled and grabbed two bottles of beer from the storage dimension. Passing one to Angelica, we quickly finished our meal and put out the fire and went to sleep.

‑

We had slept for maybe three hours as we felt a strange presence. We had set up a barrier in order to protect us, and we felt someone or something had entered it. We immediately stood up and exited the tent. "Light!", said Angelica and summoned a light. "Lithomancy: Claws!", I said and created claws of metal from stones lying around. They magically attached themselves to my hands, and I took a fighting stance, while Angelica drew her katana. Standing back to back, we eyed the clearing suspiciously.

"Ram, do you see anything?", she whispered.

"No.", I whispered back. Suddenly we heard a rustle. Turning towards a bush, we saw someone coming out of the forest. It was a man, his age most likely in the fifties. He looked a bit ragged, messy brown hair and a worn robe. He was a human, at least at first glance.

"Hey hey, don't be so hostile, I do not mean any harm!", he said with a high pitched voice, raising his hands. Angelica and I looked at each other, then we relaxed a little.

"And you are...?", asked Angelica.

"Ah, right. My name is Astra.", said the man in his girlish voice. I snickered a little. "I didn't choose this name.", said Astra a little sour. He seemed to get this reaction quite often.

"So, Astra, what do you want?", I asked a little confused. "Nobody wakes me in a dangerous forest in the dead of night. I can be quite nervous then, and when I'm nervous, bad things happen to people."

Astra seemed a little scared. "W-well, I had to talk to you..."

"Couldn't you do this tomorrow?", asked Angelica sleepy.

"No! It is important! Like, really important!", said Astra. "It's just...something is going on. I'm a druid, and I lived in this forest for decades. But now the magic is becoming corrupted. I bet you also feel it."

We nodded in agreement. This guy was serious. He continued his speech "All this began a few years ago...I don't know what it is, but this forest is even more dangerous now. And the corruption spreads through the world, effecting everyone in a different way. Magical flows get corrupted, people act strange, mysterious phenomena happening all around the plains..."

"But if something this dangerous happens, wouldn't the Ministers...wait.", said Angelica. Astra nodded with a sad expression.

"Something is happening, and they are involved, and I think all three. It is impossible for one single Minister to stage this. I don't know what's going on, but it's dangerous.", he said.

"So...why are you telling us that? Do you tell it to every wanderer in this forest?", I asked.

Astra just chuckled. "Go to the Elven capital. You'll find out soon enough." That said, he disappeared.

‑

"You'll find out soon enough.", I grumbled. "First he comes all mysteriously and wakes me up, then he vanishes and blabbers some bullshit."

"Now now, Ram, he warned us, and this definitely was helpful.", said Angelica, trying to calm me down.

"Well, he could have done it less suspiciously.", I huffed. Angelica smiled, seeing how I was calming down. There really is no other person that can effect my mood as easy as she did. Maybe it was because we were childhood friends? Although...we had done some things that weren't exactly on a friendship level anymore. Once, I had kissed her, and damn, it felt good! And sometimes I would overhear people saying we were acting like a married couple, although I highly doubted that.

We rode off. Knowing we would arrive the first village around afternoon if we'd hurry, we raced the horses. For maybe an hour it was all nice and good, but then we heard a roar. An earth-shattering, ear-piercing roar. The one you don't want to hear in a bewitched forest.

"Ram, what is that?", yelled Angelica.

"I don't know, but let's get out of here!", I yelled back. We rode as fast as we could, when suddenly something crashed through the treeline and landed on the path. "Oh God, no...", I said in horror. In front of us was a Hornbeast, a giant creature resembling a boar, only with a big, murderous horn on it's forehead. Red glowing lines were shining on his fur; someone had put a spell on it.

Our horses bucked in fear, and the motion threw Angelica out of her saddle. "Fuck!", I yelled and jumped down, running towards her. I stood in front of Angelica, readying a spell. Angelica struggled to get up, but fell down.

"I think I sprained my ankle.", she hissed. Nothing she couldn't heal in a few seconds, but a few seconds would decide our fate now.

"Heal it! I'll keep it at bay!", I yelled. Calculating, I thought of what to do. The beast would attack every second, but Angelica needed at least half a minute to recover. I first thought of creating a wall, but a – magical strengthened – Hornbeast would tear down the wall effortlessly.

"Stone Wall!", I yelled. Instead of creating a wall in front of it, I made several walls, creating a cage. I had to stop its movement, defeating it was not important right now. I readied several other spells. "Blindness! Curse of fear!"

I hoped that blinding it and attacking its mind, the Hornbeast would be less aggressive; instead, the red lines began to glow bright and the Hornbeast let out a roar. I knew, it would attack now, so I chanted one of my strongest spells: "Beyond the veil: Four elements of destruction!"

This spell was a spell from the "Beyond the veil"-category. This spell was not only classified, it was one of the hardest to learn. Together with Dimensional Magic, Time Magic and several others, Beyond the Veil Magic was a magic based on a theory of the existence of other dimensions. But the difference to other dimensional based magics like Dimensional Magic and Time Magic, Beyond the Veil was based on the belief that a parallel universe existed – a world beyond a dimensional veil. Since it was a rather scientific and slightly heretical idea, it was classified. It was really strong, and the spell I just activated was the only one I had found in the archives. It took years to learn.

The spell summoned a four-layered attack from beyond the veil. Magic attacks, based on the four elements fire, earth, water and wind were fired from all directions at the target. Since the attacks were strong, not directly linked to the caster and had several different properties, it was almost impossible to deflect it.

‑

As I thought, the attack hit the Hornbeast. An explosion and a giant dust cloud filled the path. We could hear the beast roar in pain, and since we couldn't hear any steps, it was standing still. After several seconds of silence, Angelica stood up. "Ram, I'm ready!"

We backed away and Angelica summoned a light wind to clear the sight; I was panting heavily and did not want to waste any energy. As soon as we could see again, it was truly a sight. The Hornbeast was deadly wounded, in pain and raging. Only a few hits would be enough to kill it; still, it's fur was completely untouched. "My God...", whispered Angelica. "I want that fur!"

I smiled. "Well, I guess it's time to spoil you. I'm a real gentleman."

Angelica blushed. "Y-you don't need to...a-and you're not a gentleman!"

"That's sad, I always thought women loved gentlemen."

"Well, not every woman...", muttered Angelica with a bright red face.

I sighed and got ready to get Angelica that fur. I just can't stop spoiling her... "Sangromancy: Harden!" Stopping the blood flow in the Hornbeast, I waited for it to collapse dead.

‑

After ten minutes we were sure that the beast was dead. We walked towards it. "It's huge...", said Angelica in awe. I nodded.

"Hm, the lines are still there.", I said.

"So it wasn't enchanted. It's a sigil.", concluded Angelica and sighed. Sigil magic was very useful when imbuing items with magical properties, but fighting against someone using sigils was a pain in the ass. Traps everywhere, stronger resistances, basically everything that sucked.

"What now?", I asked. We had stripped it off it's fur, roasted it's flesh to fill up my energy and took the great horn.

"We'll take the horses – excuse me, horse – and exit the forest, riding to the first village. It's called Epona. We'll be in the Elven Kingdom once we exit the forest. I don't think we will experience any hostility, but you never know...", said Angelica in deep thought. I nodded and sat on the horse, taking the reins. Angelica sat down behind me and we rode off.

‑

The sun painted the rim of the horizon in a deep red, but behind us the dark night sky, adorned by a big, silvery moon, stood over Silvermagna. After hours of a boring ride we had finally left it and were just another half an hour away from the next village.

"I'm so happy to finally be in a village.", I sighed.

"You only slept one night in a tent.", said Angelica.

"But it is highly unlikely for strange men to appear in your room at night. And when they do, it's probably a burglar that is defeated in seconds.", I answered. I was still pissed off by this strange guy who woke us up. Angelica chuckled a little. "What's so funny?", I asked.

"Nothing..."; she said with a smile.

In the distance we could already see the lights of the village, and soon we arrived. Epona was maybe as big as Lyndon, but since the population was mainly elves, the design of the houses was different. Elves were a little taller than most humans, and their physique and understanding of beauty influenced their buildings. Personally, I didn't like the design, but Angelica smiled a content smile as she saw the houses.

‑

We quickly found the inn, called "Cauldron of Reminiscence". "What a strange name for an inn.", I said a little surprised.

"I'm sure there is some meaning behind it.", said Angelica. We entered. It was clean, and we saw a few elves, as well as two humans. The man at the counter was an elf, too.

"Welcome.", he said friendly, although his voice sounded rather rude. I had already met elves, and they always had a cold voice; I knew, this man had no ill intentions. "May I help you?"

"We'd like a place to sleep and dinner and breakfast.", I said.

"Two rooms?", asked the elf. I nodded. "Alright. The rooms are on the third floor at the end of the hallway. Dinner will be served in a few minutes, just sit where ever you like. Breakfast is from 7 to 10 o'clock."

"Well, we probably will leave rather early.", said Angelica. We went to a table and sat down. "I like this place.", said Angelica.

"Well, yeah, it's all nice and clean.", I said. "Let's hope the food is good."

‑

Unsurprisingly, it was. It was a hotpot again, but we didn't complain. It had a lot less meat, though. But it still was delicious and was served with some light wine. After a little chat Angelica and I went to bed, excited for the days to come.


	5. Slania

**A/N: Back again, took some time...unfortunately, I had several problems with the text and different settings, which is why this chapter was delayed after Devlin Dracul did the beta. Well, nothing left to say, enjoy!**

I woke up, feeling refreshed. I had slept maybe eight hours, more than enough. I prepared myself mentally for the following days, then I dressed and went to knock on Ram's door. He probably was already awake.

"Ram?", I asked. Nothing. As I focused my hearing, I could hear a snore. Upon hearing his snoring, I decided to wake him especially gentle. I cautiously opened the door and sneaked toward his bed.

"Ram...", I whispered in his ear; as expected, he did not react.

"Ram.", I said louder. He shifted, but kept sleeping. With a sigh I touched his shoulder to shake him awake. Immediately he jumped up, taking a fighting stance and glared at me. As soon as he realized who I was, he relaxed.

"Good morning, Ram.", I smiled.

"G-good morning.", he said a little embarrassed.

"Slept well?", I teased him.

"… Yeah.", he said. "What about breakfast?"

"Get dressed, then we'll sort everything out.", I said.

‑

We met downstairs. Sitting down at a table, the innkeeper served us some dark bread, lunch meat and coffee. I frowned upon seeing the beverage, but poured myself one.

"So we're heading for the capitol, right?", asked Ram.

"Yeah. I guess today we'll take this road and have a rest in the next village. It's called Aidu. From there we'll go to the last village before the capitol. The villages name is Setlon. Tomorrow we'll visit Slania, capitol of the Elven kingdom. We'll stay there for some time, and then we'll head to the west."

"Whew, sounds like a plan. Do we share the horse again?", asked Ram.

"I wouldn't mind.", I said with a small blush. I still remembered how warm and strong Ram's back was; I enjoyed it thoroughly on yesterday's ride.

"Fine. Let's get going."

‑

We had paid and left the inn. Ram took the reins, and I sat down behind him, putting my arms around his waist. We rode along silently, until I spoke up.

"What kind of spell did you use yesterday?", I asked.

"Which one?", said Ram.

"Y'know, the super powerful one."

"Oh, it was 'Beyond the Veil: Four elements of destruction'. Really difficult.", explained Ram.

"And a really long name.", I added.

"Well, it is from a certain category, the 'Beyond the Veil' category. I don't really know anything about it, I just found a tome in the library. I learned the spell over the course of two years. Turned out its use is somewhat illegal.", commented Ram.

"Somewhat illegal?", I asked curiously.

"Don't know the details. It certainly is strong, but after a short research I found out that all information about 'Beyond the Veil' magic is classified."

"Well, I know there's forbidden magic like necromancy, but this? Don't have a clue why it should be forbidden.", I contemplated.

"There's a big library in Slania. I wanted to go there, find some spellbooks and stuff. Maybe there are some documents on it.", said Ram.

"Yeah, sounds good. Maybe there are some good books on martial arts and fencing. I want to improve my fighting skills.", I said. "After the Hornbeast, I decided not to rely on magic that much anymore."

"So you want to fight with weapons? I like my spells, although I'm developing something I call 'Elemental Martial Arts'.", said Ram interested.

"Well, of course I'll use magic during the fight. Got some nice ideas.", I smiled.

‑

It was noon, we should arrive soon, when Ram suddenly brought the horse to an halt.

"Do you see that?" He pointed at a tree.

"Is that...a corpse?"

"Yeah, looks like someone was hanged.", he said. He got off the horse and walked towards it. As soon as he had arrived, he suddenly turned around.

"Don't come over here!", he shouted. A flash, and a barrier was erected around him.

"Ram!", I yelled. I heard a chuckle.

"So easy...", said a male voice.

"Who are you?!", I yelled.

"Well well...you should know.", said the voice. A man came forth from behind the tree.

"You're the sigilmancer, right?"

"Correct!", said the man. He was maybe 170cm tall, wore black clothing and had short, black hair. His face was plain; he had neither beard nor scars; just his eyebrows were surprisingly thin and made him look a little feminine.

"What do you want from us?", I asked.

"I wonder...maybe I'll tell you. That is, if you defeat me!", he laughed.

‑

A sigilmancer. This guy would be a real bother. He probably uses a lot of traps, as well as golems or summoned creatures.

"Tch!", I spat. I got off the horse. "Charred Earth!", I chanted. A circle of fire burned the ground around me. I felt a few magic disturbances.

"Hoh? You noticed? I set traps all over the place."

"I figured that much. What have you done to Ram?"

"Just a stasis trap. It will disappear, if you defeat me.", explained the guy.

"Then there's no need to hold back!", I yelled

I summoned three throwing knives and sent them in his direction; as expected, he blocked them with a magic shield. In the meantime I had summoned my katana, ready to gut him open. Nobody had the right to hurt Ram!

I dashed towards him; strengthening my senses, I avoided any traps. They probably were mines. He didn't bat an eye and threw three paper cards.

"Summon Golem!"

Three bulky golems appeared in front of me.

"Damn!", I yelled. Golems...AoE spells should be the most effective. I readied a spell. Putting my hand on the ground, I yelled: "Sinkhole!"

A giant hole opened beneath the golems and swallowed them.

"Drought!". I chanted and immediately followed with a second spell: "Crumble!"

Those spells were simple elemental spells; 'Drought' removes every trace of water in a certain area, and 'Crumble' was a spell that turned earth and stone to dust. The ground beneath the sigilmancer turned to dust and he struggled to stand. I leaped at him, drawing my katana for a quick slash. "Strike of Justice!"

I barely scratched his shield; I jumped back, hearing his mocking laughter.

"This is justice? Well, I guess that's all you can do. Summon pack!"

With another card he summoned a pack of wolves. I spat out in annoyance. "Aura of Fire!"

Surrounding myself in a fiery cloak I took a fighting stance. The wolves rushed towards me, encircling me and bearing their fangs, but the heat kept them at bay.

"Guess I'll take it up a notch...", I said agitated. I switched my katana for a halberd. I took a stance designed for close combat. My left arm was raised a little, while the halberd was in my right hand, pressed down between my arm and side. The blade pointed at a wolf.

"As if such weak creatures could stop me...", I said.

I suddenly dashed towards a wolf, but stopped in front of him. "Drilling Strike!"

I attacked the wolf with my left fist, obliterating his skull. At the same time, I swung the halberd. "Wind Sword!" Using the halberd I created a gush of wind, killing several other wolves. Using the momentum of the swing, I turned around. "Wind Sword!" With this move, I killed the other wolves.

I didn't stop there; using my superior skills, I dashed towards the sigilmancer. "Strike of Justice!" Again, I only damaged his shield lightly.

"Is that all you can do?", he laughed and took out several cards. He threw them at me, and they turned into fireballs. I dodged effortlessly.

"Fog!", I chanted. Immediately a thick fog filled the air, blocking everyone's vision. Using my memory, I attacked the sigilmancer repeatedly with "Strike of Justice", until he blew the fog away with a wind sigil.

"That's enough! Summon Troll! Sigil of Vitality! Sigil of Strength!" The sigilmancer suddenly summoned a giant creature. It was at least five meters tall, and now strengthened with magic.

As if its power alone wouldn't be enough..., I thought.

The troll looked at me with dull eyes; although it apparently didn't possess a higher level of intelligence, I felt like it was sizing me up like prey. Its grayish skin looked thick, and the overall sight was intimidating.

‑

As I took my fighting stance, the troll rushed towards me with surprising speed. He threw a punch at me, and the sheer length of his arm and the power forced me to block; unfortunately my halberd broke. I leaped back and switched back to my katana. I dashed towards the troll and slashed at his leg. Although my blade was one of the best in the three plains, it just made a flesh wound and didn't cut off the leg.

"That guy really pisses me off...", I muttered. I raised my hand, preparing one of my strongest spells. "Take that! Divine Verdict!"

A pillar of light engulfed the troll, and it began to scream an high-pitched squeal. As soon as the light had vanished, the troll was gone.

‑

"Impossible!", yelled the sigilmancer.

"What? Surprised? Well, I bet you'll be even more surprised now! Hieromancy: Judgement!"

A bright light shone around the sigilmancer, followed by a scream of pain.

"Impossible! How did you break through my shield?", yelled the sigilmancer; his clothes were singed and he was heavily bruised.

"I'll tell ya: I used something you should know. With every 'Strike of Justice' I placed a mark on you, and right now I activated a spell that deals damage based on these marks. Similar tactics are standards for sigilmancers.", I smirked.

"Fuck...you.", said the sigilmancer in agony.

"Now...let's talk a little, right?", I said, ready to start my interrogation.

"As if.", smirked the sigilmancer and took out a card. Immediately he was set ablaze and died.

"Fuck! This bastard...cutting the loose ends, huh?", I said.

"Angelica! It's a trap!", yelled Ram.

‑

"Ram!" He was unhurt and free. I smiled. "Don't worry, it's over."

"What is over?"

"You missed my awesome fight.", I smirked.

"Bet you were amazing...but what happened?!", asked Ram. I told him everything, the stasis trap, the sigilmancer, the fight and his death.

"Damn, you gave 'em hell...but this guy worries me. Who sent him? And why?", said Ram.

"I don't know, but I'm sure we should stay on guard.", I said. "Now, let's go."

‑

Finally we were on our way again. It looked like we'd arrive in Aidu around noon, just as planned. The landscape around us had changed; instead of vast fields full of crops it now consisted of treelines and grass, with an occasional small forest. After a few minutes, we could see some houses at the horizon.

"Seems to be Aidu, huh? Well, I guess we could stop and get something to drink, and hay for our wonderful mount.", said Ram.

"Yeah...I hope it's not too expensive.", I said. "I don't even have a hundred gold coins left."

"Same here.", sighed Ram.

"And sleeping in Slania will be expensive, I bet." We sighed.

‑

After half an hour we had arrived in Aidu. Although an important merchant route ran through it, it had only a very small inn.

"Will this even satisfy our needs?", asked Ram.

"Well, it has to. And we just want a drink and something for the horse.", I said. "Take care of the horse, I'll do the rest in the meantime."

‑

I entered the inn. It was not as clean as the others had been; smoke filled the air, and the bartender – he was a human – looked shady, to say the least.

"We would like a drink and some hay for our horse.", I said.

"We? I only see you, or are you maybe two in one?", he grunted, looking at my belly.

"Wha – no! My _comrade_ is waiting outside.", I said. I was furious; such comments were unacceptable. Just as I was about to lecture him, Ram entered. I pointed at him. "There. We _are_ two."

The bartender grunted. "We got wine. Red wine and not so red, but still red wine, as well as red, but a darker shade of red red wine."

"We'll take the 'not so red, but still red wine'.", I said annoyed.

He gave us two dirty old mugs filled with a red, probably poisonous liquid.

"So...who are you?", asked the bartender.

"Travelers."

"Where from?"

"Somewhere."

"Where ya goin'?"

"A different somewhere.", we said vaguely, knowing that this man was sizing us up. He probably wanted to rob us, or give an order to do so. He just grunted and looked at Ram.

"Got yourself a hottie, didn't ya?", he asked with a smug grin.

Oh God, not again..., I sighed mentally.

"I guess so.", answered Ram.

"How much?", asked the bartender.

"Excuse me?", asked Ram, still calm on the outside.

"How much for a night?", said the bartender. Ram simply took out a few coins, threw them onto the counter and stood up.

"Thanks for the not so red, but still red wine." We strolled towards the door.

"C'mon, I'll pay a reasonable price!", yelled the bartender. Ram turned around and walked towards him. After a few moments he came back, but the bartender was silent.

"What did you do?", I asked.

"Nothing much. I asked him a question.", said Ram.

"A question?"

"Yeah, a question.", confirmed Ram.

"What kind of question?", I asked suspiciously.

"How much he'd pay – for his life, family and home to not be annihilated.", shrugged Ram.

"You know, sometimes I don't know if I should be proud of you or tell you to take it down a notch. But I acknowledge it. Thank you.", I said.

Holy shit, Ram went overboard again..., I thought.

‑

After our leave we took the horse and left the village. Wasting any more time here would be nonsense. As we followed the road, we now sometimes passed people. Somewhere behind Aidu two roads met with ours, and people traveling towards Slania would take it. Nothing interesting happened, as we quietly moved towards Setlon, the last village. The sun was setting when we saw its silhouette.

"It's about time we arrived.", said Ram. "I'm pretty thirsty."

"Let's hope they have a better inn.", I said.

"I think so. I can see it from here, and it looks promising.", answered Ram, as we entered the village. I took the horse to the stable, while Ram was renting our rooms.

‑

I entered the inn. It was full of happy, nice people – very full.

"I got just one room for us.", said Ram. "Here's the key."

"Thanks.", I said. "Let's eat, right?"

They served us a gruel with some meat and vegetables in it. As for drinks, they served us red wine – sweet and strong.

"Well, although I'm not that fond of gruel it tastes really good.", said Ram. "And the wine...nice."

"Don't drink too much.", I said.

"Won't happen."

‑

Being rather exhausted after my fight, I went to bed early. Ram said he wanted to drink another cup and join me afterward. As I opened my eyes, I looked around. It was around midnight, but Ram wasn't sleeping. In fact, he was missing completely. Instead I heard a loud commotion downstairs, it probably woke me up in the first place. Annoyed and tired, I left the room and walked down the stairs. Maybe I could convince them to be quiet. As I arrived in the pub, I saw Ram. He was drunk as fuck, drinking wine from a bottle. Surrounding him were a few – really beautiful – elven girls, singing and laughing. I just threw another glance at him and went upstairs.

I woke up to the rays of the morning sun. Ram was next to me, snoring loudly. I looked at him with slight disgust. Grabbing his shoulder, I shook him awake.

"Huh?", he murmured drowsily.

"Get up, we're leaving."

"Just a minute...", he mumbled.

"No, now.", I sad coldly. He sat up and immediately grabbed his head.

"Somebody blow out the fucking lights...ah, my head...", he said in agony. He was hung over.

"Well, nothing comes for free, even fun. You seemed to have had a lot last night.", I spat.

"… Did I?", he asked.

"Hm, wine, girls, real _hotties_ I have to say..."

"Can't remember shit.", said Ram. Suddenly his eyes went wide. He rushed away from me and towards the window. Seconds later I heard the sound of vomiting and someone swearing down below.

"Don't you have a spell against this?", muttered Ram.

"I guess so, but why don't you ask the nice girls from yesterday?", I said with a smug grin.

"… Fuck you."

"You smell like a drunkard. Clean yourself up and then we'll leave."

‑

After paying up a rather large bill – which Ram had to pay – we left for Slania. After Ram's constant nagging about his headache and vomiting, I finally casted a healing spell on him, just so he'd shut up. The next few hours we spent in silence. I was still furious, and Ram knew better than to talk with me.

After some time, we saw Slania. It was magnificent, to say the least. Standing tall and proud, with sturdy walls and adorned by a mighty palace, it was a symbol of wealth and pride. However, as we got closer we could see the slum outside the walls. The smell of poverty and filth lingered upon the ruins called "houses" and beggars sat in the street, that we're drowning in filth and sewage. Ignoring them, we lined up at the gates. People entering the city had to undergo a security check.

"Greetings. Who are you, what are you and what is your business in Slania?", asked us a guard.

"Adelram Umbra and Angelica Lux, at your service. We're apprentices of the Paladins and currently travel across the three plains to hone our skills."

"Do you have your badge?", asked the guard. We nodded and showed him the badges identifying us as apprentices.

"Very well. Enjoy your stay. Next one!"

‑

As easy as this had been, finding a cheap yet comfortable and clean place to stay seemed nigh impossible.

"Well, we're rather poor right now. What should we do now?", asked Ram.

"After drinking up our money, you should find us a place to stay. And for our living...what about being a bounty hunter?", I suggested.

"Sounds good. I'd like to get money for fighting. As soon as we have a place to sleep we should get some wanted posters. Then, we'll go to the library before working. Alright?", proposed Ram.

"Yeah,", I agreed.

‑

It had been a hassle and a bother, but in the outskirts of the city we found a place to stay. Ten gold pieces a night, one bed, no meals, but clean. After seeing the prices of the street vendors, buying food outside would be cheaper than eating at our hotel. We now wanted to use the rest of our afternoon to look through the royal library, as it was accessible to Paladin apprentices.

The library was a part of the palace. Each shelf was at least ten meters tall, and ladders were all over the place. Tables illuminated with magical lights provided a proper environment to read, and as expected, nobody else was in the library. At the entrance was a floor plan and several large catalogs, listing all the available scrolls, books and tomes.

"Is there something of interest?", I asked Ram.

"Yeah. There's a scroll describing a magic called 'Lightning Bolt'. Although it is an easy spell, I wonder why they wrote an entire scroll on it. Let's see...shelf 12, section 2-B. Let's look it up.", explained Ram.

We walked towards the back of the library, and after twenty minutes we had found the scroll. Putting it on a table, we started to read.

"Interesting...so it is in fact a difficult spell. The true form of 'Lightning Bolt' is not only one, but two simultaneously launched bolts. Also, it has an AoE stun, as well as a slight chance of instant death. Furthermore, if casted correctly, it creates up to three bolts surrounding the user; those can be launched without any mana cost.", said Ram.

"That's truly frightening.", I said. "It's such a powerful spell..."

‑

As we wanted to talk about it further, we felt something. It was a magic disturbance near our position, but something we never felt before. Immediately we jumped up, readying weapons and spells. In front of us appeared a middle-aged man. He seemed to be an elf at first glance. His clothes were worn down and he looked like he hadn't shaved for days.

"Greetings. Uhm...could you please put that away?", he said.

"Who are you? That was no ordinary teleport spell!", I yelled.

"Ah, right. My name is Tegernakô, and indeed, that was no ordinary teleport.", he said with a smile.

"I've heard that name before...are you the famous magic scientist?", asked Ram.

"Correct!", said Tegernakô and clapped his hands. "Adelram Umbra and Angelica Lux, I'm pleased to meet you."

‑

We had put away our weapons. "So what do you want from us?", I asked.

"Recently, you used quite an interesting spell...'Beyond the Veil: Four elements of destruction'.", said Tegernakô with a smile.

"So what?", asked Ram.

"You see, I've done a lot of research in the years of my existence...but I guess you two don't know the very principle of magic.", smiled Tegernakô. "There are three types of magic. Elemental-based magic, using natural phenomena and elements such as lightning, metal or fire. There is also faith-based magic, which is said to be derived from the gods. It is healing magic, curses, as well as necromancy and demons and basically everything related to religion. In fact, it is most likely only fueled by a combination of beliefs and magic, with no gods whatsoever...and lastly, there is the third category. Forbidden and condemned as heresy, it's the science-based magic."

"Science-based magic?", asked Ram. Tegernakô nodded.

"Science-based magic is the strongest there is, although some subcategories, such as 'Beyond the Veil' are not really science...but enough of that. Science-based magic deals with the very existence of everything, it could obliterate cities in a blink of an eye. Unfortunately, I was not able to fully master it, but you, Adelram Umbra, you can do it!", exclaimed Tegernakô.

"Yeah, sounds nice. The mana consumption is probably astronomically high, and those spells are classified.", said Ram.

"Don't worry, I will teach them to you. I'm monitoring your journey, for reasons yet to be revealed. In fact, I will teach one to you right now, one even Angelica can use."

" _Even_ I?", I asked. I felt belittled.

"Oh, no mockery intended. Most of them are too difficult for you, but this one suits your fighting skills. This spell is 'Beyond the Veil: Ink Jump'. You don't have to say its name to activate it. Before you start asking questions, I'll explain everything. The Ink is the mysterious material of creation. The spell warps you to a destination up to twenty meters away."

"So it's a teleport spell.", said Ram.

"No! You completely vanish from this world for a short time. It's untraceable, so even the best magic caster can't predict where you'll reappear. It's like gaining an ambush bonus.", explained Tegernakô.

"This spell is...amazing.", I said. By learning it, I would gain a great advantage in upcoming fights.

"Yes...I can't wait to teach you all the other spells.", sighed Tegernakô happily. "One more thing: science-based magic opposes elemental-based and faith-based magic. It can strengthen or negate it. In this scroll the basic concept of light is written down. Ah, the humans living on this Earth before the Rapture were geniuses."

The Rapture, or the Apocalypse. It erased most life on Earth, and most people don't know why. Ram did, or at least thought so. I didn't really care though.

"Well, I bid you adieu. I hope we see each other soon." That said, Tegernakô vanished.

"That was...interesting.", said Ram dryly.

"Yeah, but this spell is awesome! And the scrolls about 'Lightning Bolt' and light are really helpful.", I said. "Now, let's start working, shall we?"

‑

After we got some information on wanted criminals, we decided to visit Bic, that elf who should have received the Angel Dust.

"Let's see...downtown, black door...yep, that should be his house.", said Ram. "Let's knock."

He knocked and a voice asked: "Who's there?"

"Limbo.", said Ram. Silence followed, then the door was opened. We rushed in and saw several humans and an elf, most likely Bic.

"You are not Limbo!" "It's a trap!" "Get them!" Several voices shouted and the men rushed at us.

"Don't kill them!", yelled Ram.

"Got it!", I said. The criminals used daggers or their fists. We just dodged and hit them once or twice, rendering them unconscious.

"You're not half bad.", said a voice behind me. I made a spinning kick and saw a shadow leap back.

"Assassin!", I yelled.

"I'm on it!", said Ram. He dashed towards him. "Drilling Strike!"

The assassin narrowly dodged the blow and threw a knife at Ram. Ram easily dodged. I leaped at the assassin and drew a short-sword. I slashed at him, but he dodged again.

"Flash!", chanted Ram. A bright light engulfed the room and the assassin was blinded and stunned. Using the opportunity, I plunged the blade through his heart.

"Phew, that guy surprised me...now, let's interrogate...dammit, he got away!", exclaimed Ram.

We rushed out of the door and saw Bic's retreating back. He was fleeing, and we followed him. We easily caught up, but before we could arrest him, his head was cut off and we heard an explosion. Turning around, we saw that the house – and the criminals – were on fire.

"Fuck! What the hell happened right now?!", yelled Ram. I gulped.

"Did we bite off more than we can chew...?"


End file.
